CFPB Officially Arguing For-Cause Removal is Unconstitutional

On September 17, 2019, the Solicitor General, acting on behalf of the CFPB, filed the CFPB’s response brief in a case seeking certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court.  In a remarkable concession, the CFPB is formally taking the position that the for-cause removal provision for the Director in Title X of the Dodd Frank Act, which established the CFPB, is unconstitutional.  The Solicitor General has also taken the position that the case is a good vehicle to consider the issue, and supports granting the petition for certiorari. 

While the CFPB now concedes that the for-cause removal provision unconstitutionally restricts the President’s constitutional powers, it argues the remedy for this infirmity is severance of the position, instead of invalidating the entirety of Title X.  Shortly after the Solicitor General filed this brief in the Supreme Court, the CFPB submitted a letter to the Fifth Circuit in a matter pending before it, in which the same constitutional question is at issue, noting its position that the for-cause removal provision is unconstitutional, but arguing for severance as the remedy.  That letter may be viewed here.